


Going Down With The New Kid

by graywrites



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Gen, High School, Slow Burn, Strangers to Friends, Strangers to Friends to Lovers, gay highschoolers being adorable babies
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-05
Updated: 2017-03-05
Packaged: 2018-09-22 03:48:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,606
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9581957
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/graywrites/pseuds/graywrites
Summary: The infamous New Girl- the one who was supposedly kicked out of her old school for doing something terrible- ends up not only resembling that of a Disney princess, she also ends up being Lena Luthor's brand new friend, sort of. (Even if they were both kind of forced into it.)





	1. Freshman Babysitter

**Author's Note:**

> the disgusting highschool au nobody asked for kill me this is gonna be a goddamn series

When the rumors began about the incoming student, and how she'd supposedly gotten kicked out of her last school, Lena wasn't exactly sure what she was expecting when she was informed that she'd have to show the new student around, but she did know that the doe-eyed blonde behind square glasses certainly wasn't it.

Standing in the high school office that smells of a secretary's cheap perfume, Lena does a slight double take. The girl before her, the one she has been assigned to like some kind of Freshman babysitter for reasons beyond her control, the girl that is supposed to be dangerous or crazy or borderline frightening... she's wearing a tight blonde ponytail and a cardigan, with glasses perched on her nose that she keeps fidgeting with. 

Lena takes a step closer to the girl, calling for her attention. "Are you Kara Danvers?" Lena says curtly. Helpless as this girl seems, Lena is missing class over this, which kind of takes niceties out of the way. 

The girl smiles nervously and extends her hand. "Yes! Yeah. That's me! Uh, who are you?"

"Lena. Student Council. I'm showing you around today. Welcome to our school," Lena says in a voice that very much screams, 'I'm being nice because I have to be!' Not an uncommon voice to be heard in any place where Customer Service and it's importance is enforced. 

"I like your shirt," Kara says, and it's so earnest that for a moment, Lena forgets that she probably has better things to be doing than dragging some Freshman around from class to class. 

Worse yet, Lena has to bring this girl to all of her _own_ classes. Because apparently, it's not enough to take this girl to her Freshman classes, Lena is actually supposed to take this Freshman to all of her _Sophomore AP classes_ for the day, so she can 'bond' with her or whatever. Evidently, they do actually share three classes, though, despite Lena playing tour guide- a science course for which Kara skipped a grade, and two electives which are mixed between grades. Of course. 

A week prior, Lena had been called to the Principal's office during sixth period with no warning. She'd sat down, a little apprehensive, and the Principal began to talk of a new transfer from one of the neighboring districts. "She's going through three of the same classes as you, so I thought you could help her, you know... Adjust," he'd said, pulling at his tie.

The Principal was the kind of man who was nervous at the very prospect of being around teenagers. Like they were combustible, unstable. Like they could hurt him. Which was a lucky thing, if you're a kid, but awfully rough if you're the principal. 

Lena didn't bother with the oh-so-cliche moan of a "why me?" It wouldn't have done her good. Adults don't like being asked to justify themselves against the likes of children. But the Principal started anyways, always so nervous and desperate. "Since she has some of the same classes as you, I put the two of you together for every class you share. I thought you'd be a good choice, because you're in Student Council, and, well, you know, she's going to be an outsider here, with all kinds of people talking about her, and, you know, maybe it's something you could both benefit from, Miss Luthor-" She cut him off with a forced smile and sweet nod, because it sounded like he was begging for her approval while speaking poorly of her all at once, and she hadn't wanted to think of her brother- or anything other than Geometry- right then. 

So yes, she will be bringing this Freshman with her to each and every hour, like a pet or something. As their shoes click against the tile in the quiet hallway, Lena begins to deduce that the term "pet" seemed vaguely appropriate for Kara. She's almost like a little puppy. 

The two girls enter the Chemistry classroom, and the teacher, who is short for a man and absolutely, indisputably awful, clears his throat. Lena hands him a hall pass and moves back to her seat at her lab table, which she usually mans by herself.

“New student. Sit. Over by Luthor. You're her new lab partner,” he demands to Kara, who looks slightly bewildered. He doesn’t so much as ask her name, so she stumbles back to the only available seat, right next to Lena. Because, of course.

As the teacher looks away to prepare a video, whispers begin to bubble up to the surface of the quiet class, most of them about ‘The New Girl.’ Kara shifts uncomfortably in her seat, and Lena feels a little sympathy for her, because by next week the whispers will be about her, instead, just as before Kara came, and so Lena knows what that’s like. 

Suddenly, a boy turns around to Kara. “Is it true you got kicked out of your school ‘cause you tried to kill a kid?” He snickers. 

Kara chokes on air. “ _What_?!”

“Of course she did, that’s why they sat her next to Luthor’s sister over there,” says a second boy, and the two high-five, like some kind of douchebag mating ritual. 

“What the _hell_ are you talking about?!” Kara exclaims, face going red, and it’s the first time Lena’s heard this girl speak above a chirp all morning. And probably the third time she’s heard her speak, period. 

Lena almost laughs. This supposedly dangerous, delinquent girl shows up looking like a fairy godmother drove her here in a pumpkin, and then, if that weren't complicated enough of an image in itself, she ends up yelling an expletive in the middle of science class not twenty minutes later.

The teacher whips around. “Did I just hear a cuss?” He spits. Everyone points at sweet, blonde, cardigan wearing little Kara Danvers. She swallows hard. Lena can almost hear her heart sink.

“Uhm,” She mumbles, tugging at her ponytail. 

“Detention! After school!” The teacher shouts, and Kara visibly flinches. The teacher pauses. “You, too, Luthor!”

“What?! But I-”

“Detention!” 

God, it’d be almost comical, were Lena not fuming.

 

“I don’t need to be shown around,” Alex says, rolling her eyes defiantly as the shorter girl in front of her crosses her arms. 

“Doesn’t matter what you say you need, Danvers, I’ve gotta show you around. It’s a big school,” Maggie shrugs.

“I have a good sense of direction,” Alex retorts. 

“And humble, too.”

“Go to class, you’re going to be late,” Alex crosses her arms, too, leaving the juniors paralleling one another.

“So are you, and I'm the one with the hall pass,” Maggie takes a step closer, but then realizes that doing so was kind of a bad idea, because she now has to crane her neck up much further to look at Alex, and, really, it’s kind of inconvenient for this weird, slightly tension-charged power battle they’re doing right now, especially since they’ve known each other for, like, half an hour. 

“I’m going to class,” Alex finally breaks their stalemate and begins walking. Maggie does not bother to tell her that she is going in the wrong direction.

Impressively enough, though, Alex still manages to be in first period only three minutes after the bell rang. And Maggie, to be perfectly honest, is a little intrigued.

 

“My parents are gonna kill me! My _sister_ is gonna kill me!” Kara rambles, smoothing the stray hairs coming out of her ponytail. “I got detention on the first day in a new school.”

“After being kicked out of the old one,” Lena adds.

“Not helpful!” Kara squeaks.

“Sorry, sorry. Listen, Kara, it’s really not such a big deal,” Lena explains with a shrug. “That teacher doesn’t even call your parents or give you a slip or anything, he just expects you to show up. He's really quite awful at his job, if I'm being honest.”

“Really?” Kara inquires.

“Yeah. He’s sort of stupid.”

Kara laughs weakly, which means mission accomplished, at least. Lena continues. “And anyways, it’s not like you’ll be sitting there all alone. He pegged me, too, remember?” 

Kara pauses. This feels like some kind of hand in the air, an offering, an extension to the possibility of being more than The New Girl who Lena has to show around.

“Right,” she says, a small smile creeping on her face. 

Lucky for Kara, the lunch is divided between the grades, with the first lunch period being of Freshman and Sophomores, and the second being with Juniors and Seniors. Meaning she won't have to face her sister and risk spilling.

Of course, Alex will know. Alex always knows. But Kara can hope for the best, can't she?

 

Second hour, Alex decides, is wildly different than first hour. English classes tend to be, but now she's sitting in the front row at a two person table with Maggie, and it comes to mind that their teacher is quite the goddamn sight.

She's abstract in a personal manner, with frizzy hair and owl glasses and long robes covered in paint splatters that would make one mistake her for the painting teacher, instead. She claps her hands together.

"Alright, class! In celebration of our brand new student, Alex Danvers, we're going to play a little game!"

The class cheers, and it feels less half-hearted than the average group of dull sixteen-year-olds trying to feign some kind of enthusiasm for the sake of their participation grade.

"Two truths, one lie. For the good of the order, and to get to know each other, since I'm half convinced three-fourths of you don't know all of your teachers' names, let alone your classmates. Meanwhile, I'll be getting coffee. Find me in the teacher's lounge if a fight breaks out- I'd love to watch."

Alex is dumbfounded. "This... this is the class?" She turns to Maggie. 

"For today," Maggie shrugs. 

"She's just... going to leave?"

"I can't tell if she's great at her job or just extremely lazy, but really, it doesn't exactly matter, does it?" Maggie laughs. 

"Alright," A boy who just has the aura of 'popular sports dude' seeping out of his pores starts, "who goes first?"

"I volunteer Sawyer," someone towards the back of the class calls. That's all it takes for classroom unity to appear, and the general, noisy consensus seems to be that Maggie should go first. 

"I'm quite popular around here. At least among the guys," she whispers to Alex with a sly grin. Alex just snorts. 

"Okay, alright," Maggie waves in the air. "Number one: I once saw seven people in our grade entirely naked in a nonsexual manner. Number two, my ex-girlfriend knew Jennifer Lopez's cousin. Number three, I was accidentally the reason Mrs. Artino quit Freshman year."

Kids raise their hands and answers go flying at Maggie to which statement is the lie, but for Alex, it all just kind of floats by as she finds herself staring at Maggie, holding on to one phrase: ' _ex-girlfriend_.'

 

"What day is it?" Lena hums absently as she leads Kara into the empty, dark locker room. 

"Uhm- Thursday?" Kara says.

"Swimming day!" Lena announces, running a brush through her hair. "Hope you have your swimsuit, with your name and number all on the back."

"I- I didn't even know this school had a pool," Kara admits. 

"If you don't have your swimwear, the coach is gonna be pissed," Lena tells her. 

"But it's only my first day, I couldn't have known," Kara tries, tilting on the soles of her shoes slightly. 

"Honestly? He's kind of crazy, Kara. He won't care. He's gonna peg you with a detention," Lena warns.

"But... But, I already have a detention! I can't get two detentions in one day! I'm gonna be in so much trouble, how did I even manage that?!" Kara rambles, hand running down her face in distress, then coursing through her tied up hair, only managing to undo her ponytail a little. 

To be quite honest, Lena thinks Kara looks near the verge of tears, all big blue eyes and pacing. And it surely can't be easy, distressed and utterly clueless in a brand new place, already in trouble for things beyond your control, with no one there for you out of anything more than vacant obligation.

"..Fuck it," Lena mutters into her locker. She leans back, then shuts it, swimsuit still inside. "Solidarity," she shrugs, and Kara's face softens into a weak but glowing smile. "You go down, we both do." _Don't get used to it, Danvers,_. 

When the coach's neck vein is thick and visible, as he hands out a two pink detention slips- one for Kara, one for Lena- Lena can't help but whisper into the younger girl's ear, "now, _this_ , this is one they're writing home about." 

Kara shrinks slightly, but the ghost of a grateful grin still lingers on her lips.

By the time the two girls find themselves in the detention room, the dizzy drizzle has called for a ceasefire and the sun has come out, yellow light spilling across the empty room full of carved on wooden desks. 

"Shouldn't, like... a teacher or someone be here?" Kara asks, twirling a pencil loosely between her fingers.

"Oh, absolutely. And yet, and yet," Lena shrugs. "Perhaps it's for the best, anyways."

"I can't believe I got detention. Twice! On my very first day! I don't get detention! I never get detention!" Kara exclaims into the dull quiet of the room.

"Then why'd you get kicked out of your old school?" Lena says, without much forethought. "I mean, uhm..." She begins to backpedal, but decides that would probably only make it worse. 

"Well, uh," Kara begins, pulling at her sleeves as if she's about to begin a well-rehearsed speech. 

Kara wants to be honest to this girl she met just this morning, but some truths care not to be told. 

"We just.. moved a lot closer to this school, because we heard the teachers were better over here. I guess we were wrong," she laughs loosely. 

Lena believes this is a pathetic excuse for a lie, but it's comforting to know that this girl is not deceitful. 

"Uhm, thanks, though," Kara says. "For taking detention with me, I mean. Both of them."

"The first one wasn't exactly my choice," Lena hums. 

"Still. The second time, that was, you know, that was really sweet," Kara says.

Lena shrugs and adjusts in her seat. 

"Hey, Lena? What did they mean, those boys, in Chem, when they called you 'Luthor's sister?'" Kara says, as if this is not a fairly personal question to ask someone she's known for less than a day.

But, then, who is Lena to talk?

She laughs dryly. "I have a brother," she shrugs. 

"What grade?" Kara asks innocently. "I have an older sister, she's a junior! Maybe they know each other?"

"He's a senior," Lena shrugs. 

"Oh, cool, cool..." Kara mutters. "So, what did he have to do with everyone thinking I killed someone?" She asks, tilting her head to the side slightly.

Lena pauses. Then, she almost laughs. "Lex has a track record of misdemeanors here a mile long and the only thing that makes his record look so perfect and clean is my mother's money, and everybody in this school knows it, and they think that means that I'm like that, too, and so of course when they hear a girl got kicked out of her school, then who could be a better match for her than the local delinquent's little sister?" Lena exhales, shrugs, and forces a smile. 

Jesus, is Lena really so deprived of human interaction that the second someone is remotely pleasant to her she practically spills her life story? She flinches, mentally berating herself. 

Kara is silent for a moment that feels longer to Lena than it realistically is, and then says, with a shrug: "let them think what they want."

And Lena smiles.


	2. Planes Of Reality

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lena's life is becoming increasingly confusing. Actually, so is Kara's. And it's mostly the other's fault, too, along with high school locker rooms. But a shared Chemistry experiment and the storm of the year should be enough to set that aside, if only for a few minutes. All the while, Alex and Maggie bond over shared hatred of third period.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GUESS WHO'S BACK, BACK AGAIN

“You wanna explain yourself?” Alex’s voice echoes in the empty golden hallways of a school that’s been vacated for hours, now. It’s only her and her little sister, now, who looks less than thrilled with the entire situation. “Detention, Kara. It’s your first day. Your first day! Stay under the radar, nothing like last like, just do well, that was the plan, and got a detention on the first day!”

Kara clears her throat. “Well… two, actually. But! One of them was unofficial.” She looks away sheepishly.

“Two?! Please, Kara, my dearest little sister, inform me what exactly it is that you did to get _two_ detentions on your _very first day_ at a new school,” Alex demands. There’s murder in her voice, but Kara at least knows she’s only aiming to keep Kara safe.

“Well, first, I swore-”

“You swore? You never swear!”

“Yeah, well, everything’s changing,” Kara huffs, digging her hands into her pockets. “And that was the unofficial one, anyways.”

“So what was the real one for?”

“I didn’t have my swimsuit! It’s Thursday! I was supposed to have a swimsuit. Did _you_ know I was supposed to have a swimsuit?” Kara asks as they pad across reflective tiles past unoccupied classrooms.

“No. Did anyone actually _tell_ you? Or, anyone? It’s not like Mom would forget something like that,” Alex says.

“No! Nobody told anyone anything about _any_ of that, and I was just supposed to know, and I didn’t, and I got detention, because according to Lena, he’s crazy!”

“Who’s Lena? Oh, doesn’t matter right now- listen, he can’t just give you a detention for something like that, that’s not fair. I’ll talk to him tomorrow,” Alex promises.

“You can’t do that, Alex, he’s not gonna listen to you, he’s, like, eight feet tall.”

“So I’ll get Mom to tell him off,” Alex shrugs. Kara claps.

“Okay,” Alex says, “So the official one, I’ll give you that one, that’s totally messed up. However, no swearing! Especially no swearing in class,” Alex chides.

“You swear all the time! Even in front of teachers!” Kara protests, even though she had never really meant to swear, and didn’t wholeheartedly have any future plans to make a steady habit of it, either.

“I’ve been around long enough to know how to avoid getting caught, Kara. Just… just, be good, alright? I know you always are. You just need to lay low. We don’t need anybody taking notice to you and seeing you do something that could get you caught, okay?” Alex lowers her voice, so as not to echo against brick walls, despite the emptiness of the school.

“I understand,” Kara nods, adjusting her glasses.

“Good. Now. Who’s Lena and why is she telling you that your teacher is crazy? Besides the fact that he really obviously is.”

“She led me around the school. Also possibly I think we’re sort of friends? We got detention together. Which wasn’t her fault the first time, but in gym, she _had_ her bathing suit, but pretended not to, so I wouldn’t be the only one in trouble. Also, we’re lab partners,” Kara grins.

“Sounds like quite the first day you’ve had there,” Alex laughs at her younger sister’s enthusiasm.

“And what about yours, what happened?”

“Everything is sorta.. weird,” Alex shrugs, opening the door and walking out into the fresh, misty air, shining under glimmering late afternoon sun. “Especially my guide. You know, the girl they had show me around.”

“Why? Is she mean?” Kara asks, concern etching its way into her voice.

“What? No, no, no. She’s funny. And quick. And, sort of popular, in a weird way, I guess. I mean, she’s nice. I like her enough. She’s just weird,” Alex shrugs.

"But not bad weird?" Kara asks, casting a glance to her sister as they begin making their way under marvelous, low hanging archway oaks, lining the sides of the cracked suburban sidewalks, glistening in the orange glow, damp from the morning's rain. 

"I guess not. I mean, she's nice," Alex repeats herself. 

"Thank you, Alex, for that very descriptive summary on what sounds like just about the _only_ person you talked to all day," Kara snorts. "'Nice,'" She mimics.

"Hey! Not my fault she was the only one I talked to, you don't know what it's like in Junior year, everybody's crazy. You have no idea how good you have it down there in Freshman year," Alex laughs.

"I didn't even meet any freshman," Kara protests.

"What? Why not?"

"Lena is a sophomore, I was supposed to go with her to all of her classes. I was surrounded by a bunch of upperclassmen all day. I have no idea what the Freshman are like here," Kara explains with a shrug. 

"They stuck you with a kid older than you? Rough. Wonder why they didn't have anyone else do it. Either way, is she, you know, 'nice?'" Alex laughs.

"I'm pretty sure?" Kara offers helplessly. "It's hard to say. She got detention for me?" She tries. 

"Close enough," Alex agrees. "Just be good from now on, alright?"

"I always try, you know that," Kara says.

The two girls walk all the way back home in such a familiar, calming silence, steady, quiet steps underneath a glowing afternoon sky, and everything feels almost easy. 

 

Friday morning and the words on the blackboard of first period are enough to make Lena's stomach churn, because, shit, as if the mere _thought_ of Chem wasn't enough stimulation to Lena's brain, it's Partner Weekend, as says the blackboard of omniscience, which means the next few days will be filled with a very intricate lab project, to be done at home, with, obviously, a partner. One she certainly doesn't need. One she hasn't had enough caffeine to deal with. 

Slinging her backpack off of her shoulder by her seat, she recalls _who_ her lab partner is- The New Kid. Kara. Who is... not here. At all. Lena glances at the clock. 7:59. Freshman's gonna be late. Then again, so is the teacher. Less of a surprise. If Kara is especially lucky today, she will slip in before their likely hungover Chem teacher slinks out of the Teacher's Lounge and comes for roll call. 

But speak of the devil, because there's the teacher, entering the room and making a beeline for his computer, all set for attendance. 

He goes from Adden to Able to Brooks, Cavalente, and Culver, and then he pauses. "Danvers? ...Danvers? Kara. Danvers. Has anybody seen Kara Danvers?"

He mispronounces her name, which just sort of adds insult to injury, not that Lena cares all too much. But still, she finds herself blurting out, "She's here! She came in earlier. She just went to the bathroom." Lena thinks she sounds half convincing, if she does say so herself. Though she doesn't know why she's lying for this new girl. (Actually, Lena doesn't know why she's been doing most of what she's doing since Kara arrived. Who gets _two_ detentions for someone? Who does that?)

The teachers nods vacantly and moves on to Denwell.

At 8:08 am, Kara Danvers rushes through the door with messy hair, clothing disheveled. She looks about to say something, but Lena rapidly gestures for her just to sit down, don't say a word. The teacher doesn't even notice. 

"Someone overslept," Lena chimes with a smirk, never taking her eyes off the front of the room. 

"My alarm didn't go off!" Kara protests. "And my sister didn't even realize until five minutes _after_ we were supposed to have left," She pants. "Why isn't he mad?" She points to the teacher. 

"I covered for you," Lena says simply. "Ready for Partner Weekend?" She asks with a half grin. 

"What's that?" Kara asks.

"Stop talking during class and listen, maybe you'll find out," Lena nudges her with her elbow.

"You started it!" Kara huffs, trailing off. 

The teacher paces around the front of the room and begins to speak about Partner Weekend. According to him, each set of lab partners will be assigned a chem experiment that they have until Monday to complete, with results, data, and all. 

He walks around the classroom, telling each partner group which experiment they'll be performing, and then he stops in front of Kara and Lena. "Plastic from potato starch," He tells them gruffly, handing out a packet with the starting information. 

Lena glances over it as Kara blinks at her. "Okay," Lena hums. "Give me your number."

Kara readily complies, reciting her number from memory as Lena pulls out her phone. "We'll do it at your house," Lena tells Kara more than asks her. "We'll start tonight. I've been in this course since the beginning of the year, I have everything we'll need. I'll bring it with me."

"Uh... okay. Sounds good," Kara chirps, cheery, if still slightly confused. 

Lena is fully aware that her house is bigger, and has more space for things like, oh, you know, chemistry experiments, but that doesn't change the fact that she doesn't exactly want to bring Kara into her cold, empty home, so she shakes away the reasonable from her head as she puts Kara's number down in her contacts under the name "The New Kid."

 

The thing about Alex's third hour is that it absolutely fucking sucks, and this is exactly what she's telling Maggie as they make their way downstairs together. "I mean, is History even, like, a real class? We've been learning about History since, like, second grade, the world is not that old, we've covered everything from the ice age to modern day, why do we still have it? We're juniors, dammit! And here's History, masquerading as a real, important class, giving out homework, trying to make us _pay attention_ ," Alex scoffs.

"How dare it!" Maggie teases in a falsely serious tone.

"Don't mock me," Alex swats at her.

"Oh, but it's just _so_ easy," Maggie croons in response. Alex scowls. "Look," Maggie starts, "if it makes you feel any better, I have gym class. It's fucking boring."

"Your misery _does_ actually make me feel slightly better, thank you," Alex laughs. 

"Now, I have a thought- one that probably hasn't occurred to you, but just hear me out- what if, instead of laughing at one another's pain, we just skipped third hour entirely? Put the pain aside?" Maggie offers. 

"What, won't we get caught?" Alex asks skeptically.

"Exactly two teachers here actually take attendance, and they teach Freshmen. Don't worry about it, Danvers," Maggie assures her. 

How can Alex possibly pass up an opportunity like that?

 

Kara is half convinced that high school lockers rooms exist on an entirely separate plane of reality than the rest of everything in the world. For one thing, there is seemingly no feasible way Kara can make it from her third hour to the locker rooms in a timely manner, so she's usually among maybe three girls there when she makes her way in there, and even then, most of them are leaving. Apparently, Lena is plagued by the same time management phenomenon, though, because by the time Kara actually manages to get the crazy lock on her locker open, it's only Lena left in there with her. 

And then, there's the entire atmosphere- the humid, still air of a half underground room with peeling paint over brick walls and damp floors from leaking showers that Lena swears nobody has _ever_ actually used, all in between rows of rusty red lockers and benches. 

And that's even sparing the whole "changing in front of other people" thing. Or, well, not people, really. But, person. Lena. It's weird. Is that even normal on Earth? Or is that only a high school thing? Because that definitely wasn't normal on Krypton, and it barely seems normal on this planet, to begin with, so Kara isn't entirely sure about the whole thing, to be honest. 

One minute, it'll be totally normal, Kara opening her locker and everything, and then Lena will just be, like, completely undressed, right in front of Kara. That's weird! That's weird, right? So it's not exactly easy for Kara to drag her eyes away from Lena's, you know, _bare back_ , which is equally as weird, but, well, not _unpleasant_ or anything. 

And Lena seems entirely oblivious to the whole weirdness of all of it, which is _so_ not fair, and then she just gets into her gym clothes and _leaves_ , leaving Kara still standing there, holding her locker door, staring at the empty space where Lena had been standing. 

Weird. 

 

"You _hypocrite_ ," Kara accuses, walking side by side with Alex as they make their way home. 

"We skipped one class, Kara," Alex laughs.

"I got _one detention_ , and _that_ was the end of the world," Kara points out.

"Well, actually, you got two. And anyways, you're supposed to be flying under the radar. It doesn't matter what I do. In fact, consider this me protecting you- nobody will notice you if I'm the one skipping classes. Not that we got caught," Alex chimes.

Kara huffs halfheartedly. "You and your double standards," she shakes her head, but a smile passes her lips despite herself. "Meanwhile, Lena Luthor is coming over tonight for our science experiment."

"And, does Mom know?"

"She will as soon as we get home and I tell her," Kara shrugs. 

"She'll just be glad you're making friends," Alex tells her sister. Kara's phone buzzes, and- speak of the Devil, Lena Luthor.

 _What's your address, and does six work?_ the text reads, with oddly impeccable grammar for a high schooler's text.

Kara responds that six works great, along with her address (and a healthy amount of emoji's).

"Someone looks excited," Alex laughs and shakes her head as the sisters continue on their way home. 

 

Lena Luthor is surprisingly punctual- Kara mentally stores that away in her collection of Things About Lena that she knows. Six o'clock, exactly, and a shiny black car pulls up in front of the house. Lena walks up carrying a bag full of what Kara can only assume are the materials for their plastic making experiment. 

She opens the door eagerly, and Lena greets her with a smile. "Hi!" Kara says. "We can do it in the basement," she informs Lena, who is taking off her jacket. Kara takes it and puts it in the closet, then leads her downstairs. 

"Are you any good at chemistry?" Lena asks as the two descent into an unfinished basement. 

"Uh. I guess. Good enough to be a Freshman in the Sophomore class?" Kara offers. 

"Right," Lena says, laying out the materials and handing Kara a pair of goggles. "I think this is simple enough. Can you dilute the hydrochloric acid and sodium hydroxide? I'll extract the starch," Lena says this all in a very take-charge sort of manner, so Kara silently stammers in agreement, and the two begin to work in silence. 

When Lena finishes extracting the starch, she says, "alright. We just have to let it sit for five minutes now, and then we can make the plastic film." She takes a picture of their set up. "For the process," she explains, drawing her knees to her chest as the two sit on the tiled floor. "I like your house."

"Thanks," Kara smiles easily. 

"Your family seems nice," Lena mutters, letting her neck fall back, turning her face to the ceiling. 

"They are! They're really nice," Kara promises. "I'm sure your family is nice, too."

"They're not," Lena mumbles dryly, and then resigns to silence. Kara says nothing. 

When the five minutes is up, Kara mixes everything together, and then Lena turns on the Bunsen burner. When she leans forward to set the beaker on top, she recoils quickly with a sharp scream as the beaker falls into place.

"Oh, _fuck_!" Lena yelps, pulling her burnt hand away from the fire, tears pricking at her eyes. 

"Oh, my God, did you burn yourself?" Kara stammers out in a blind panic. "Oh, no, okay, okay, water!" Kara says, remembering what to do in the event of a fire.

Lena would say "no shit" if she had not just, you know, accidentally stuck her hand in a fire. 

Kara more or less drags her to a sink in the corner of the otherwise empty basement, holding Lena's hand under a stream of cold water as Lena clenches her teeth and keeps her eyes shut very tight.

After maybe six minutes of the two girls just standing there while Kara stares at Lena, entirely concerned, Lena swallows and says, "alright, I'm okay, I'm fine."

She draws back her hand, the back of which is read and swollen. "Are you sure?" Kara asks, doe-eyed and worried. 

"Yes, it's just a little burn. I'll be perfectly fine," she reassures Kara, who nods. "How's the beaker doing?"

Kara glances at her phone. "Seven more minutes, then we remove it."

"Fantastic," Lena says, returning to her place in front of the burner, but keeping a safe distance, all while Kara watches her cautiously. 

By the time they remove the beaker, Lena says, "Let's take a walk." She gives no reason, no warning, but despite this, the two girls find themselves exiting the back door and walking out onto the street. 

The streets are wide under bright, glowing streetlights, casting shadows of towering trees in between the bright spots. The air is cold but damp and smells of blacktop in spring and static, and the sky feels impossibly high above them, a steady, inky black with pinprick stars. It is inexplicably peaceful, the calmest Lena has found herself in God knows how long. 

And so, wordlessly, the girls begin to walk in an easy pattern of swinging arms brushing against one another and staring at the canopy of trees. 

"Are you sure you're not hurt?" Kara asks in a voice that is quiet enough to blend into the background seamlessly.

"I'm sure," Lena says, soft smile on her face that Kara cannot see. 

"Okay," Kara says. It comes out a whisper. But there is a silent understanding between the two as they pace through the wide suburbia. 

Perhaps they could keep walking like that for hours- maybe they would, even, had it not been for the gusts of wind picking up, and then the sudden onslaught of torrential sheets of rain pouring down upon them from seemingly nowhere.

"Oh, shit," Lena says, looking up at the sky, but there's no regret or fury in her voice.

Kara pauses. And then, she laughs. And so does Lena, as flash flood conditions that they did not foresee soak them, leaving them shaking to the bone with long hair slick to their faces, clothes sticking to their skin, teeth chattering and all. 

By the time the stumble inside with rolling thunder as their background music, the streets are terrible. No condition for any kind of driving, according to Eliza. 

And so, Lena has to spend the night. Though, that's not really any source of disappointment. 

The juxtaposition of the fuzzy warmth in Kara's room versus the outside storm leaves both girl's cold skin burning as they quietly change into dry clothes, leaving Lena wearing a sweater and pair of sweatpants that belong to Kara. 

"Thank you again for letting me stay," Lena says, hours later, as the two lay parallel to one another on the floor, covered in sleeping bags and blankets.

"It's really no problem!" Kara assures her quickly. "I'm really glad you're here," she mutters tiredly, staring at the windows, streaks of rain sliding down, casting raindrop shaped shadows across Kara's room. 

Lena just smiles. It's the first time she's spent the night at someone's house. Truthfully, she kind of gets what all the hype is about.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> leave me a comment critiquining it or reviewing it or whatever and if ur into it give me some ideas for chapter three!!! hit up my ask box too with prompts or anything else at protectkara.tumblr.com/ask


	3. Planets, Parties, And Other Things You Can't Miss

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's hard to be a teenager when there's a gnawing in the back of your head telling you that you should be more, but at least Kara's got the whole "no one understands me" thing down pretty well. And not sleeping- not sleeping is working out pretty well for Kara, if she says so herself. Meanwhile, Spirit Week is an experience in itself- people sure are hung up on experiences nowadays, huh?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is kind of a chapter to set up the next one, but we meet two new characters and have a little casual gay teenage fun, too. Poor Kara, though. This is a lot of Kara being town between what she feels and what she knows.

Despite two in the morning creeping through to the present, and the inky darkness of the sky, and the fact that it's a Tuesday morning, and so Kara really should be in bed- despite all of that- messy hair, barefoot, she pads down a street that's been closed for a couple years now, because what else can she do when her eyes won't seem to close and she can't help but start to think, once again, that there has never been a place quite so unbearably loud and terribly lonely all at once as Earth?

Kara sighs, then shakes her hands at her sides, as if, perhaps, that will help her any. She can't shake the feeling that she is both entirely ungrateful and completely purposeless all at once. She should be in bed, but she feels lost regardless of location, so why not make it half-literal, while she's at it?

She just needs sleep, really- it's Tuesday, by now, and she doesn't want the sun to come up yet, but she just really needs sleep, and then she'll be able to breathe easy again, but the sudden bout of insomnia she seems to be suddenly stricken with is not a friend of hers. 

She breathes- that's all there really is left to do- breathes in, exhales, looks around. The street is empty, going to stay empty, it's been marked as a dead end miles ahead of her, where the incline starts. It's a curving, narrow street that leads around something like a cliff, with a precarious mountain to her right, a loose rocks clinging by mere luck to the steep slope. It's closed for a reason, and so Kara really shouldn't be here, but she shouldn't really be anywhere at all, now, right? So she figures she's getting ahead anyways. 

In a moment of tired vulnerability, Kara's extraordinary hearing becomes too much, leaving way to the buzzing summer sound of bicycle spokes whirring, coming from somewhere up ahead. Looking up from her steady trail on the road and readjusting her glasses, Kara sees that, predictably, her hearing has not failed her. There's a boy a little ways off, riding his bike. Kara has just enough time to wonder why he's on this road at all before, in the blink of an eye, she hears a cracking sound, sees a rock dislodging from the slope, and realizes it's going to barrel directly into the kid on the bike. Her bones tense and panic courses through her, looking at the size of the boulder, and it's where it’s heading. Fight or flight, fight or flight. Sparing much further though, Kara darts ahead, shooting into the air for what must be the first time in months and months, and, God, it feels nice. She grabs the rock and tosses it off of the road, lowering herself to the ground, panting slightly, more from adrenaline than physical exertion.

She exhales, feeling far better than she had a few minutes ago, a sense of accomplishment flooding her tired body. 

"You- just- you just! But- but you're- what? What the hell! You can't- that's!" Sputters the new source of the sinking feeling in the pit of Kara's stomach.

"Um!" She chirps, choking on her breath.

"You flew," states the boy in front of her- he's skinny, scrawny, probably her age, she thinks. 

"N..no. That. Wasn't me. And that wasn't flying. And this is also a dream. A dream about someone who's not me, not flying," Kara coughs.

"I saw you, that- that was flying. You just flew, and then through a boulder. Like Superman, or something. You saved my life. And _flew_. I- I mean- thank you. Thank you. My name is Winn. Schott. Winn Schott," He approaches Kara, holding out his hand. 

Kara takes a step back, breathing heavy. "No- no, no. You don't know me, this isn't real, you never saw me," She mutters. 

"I know you, you're in my English Lit class, you're Kara Danvers, you're The New Girl- but, uh, you clearly don't want me to know this, and you can toss boulders off of cliffs, so I- I don't know you, you're right, Kara Danvers? Don't know her..." Winn clears his throat and laughs nervously. 

Kara grimaces. She doesn't want people to be afraid of her, she doesn't want any of this, that's exactly the point, and now it can only get worse, nobody is supposed to know this, that's why they moved, that's why she's supposed to go unnoticed, _dammit_.

Kara mumbles out an incoherent excuse and stumbles away, taking off running around the bend, all the way back to her bedroom window, praying she'll wake up and remember this all as a dream. 

 

So it wasn't a dream. That becomes perfectly apparent when, by English Lit, the boy in the corner- Winn- won't stop staring at her. He looks tired- she doesn't blame him, why was he riding his bike around at two in the morning, anyways?- but he also looks intrigued. 

So when the teacher announces that everyone has to pick a partner to discuss Darwinism in Of Mice And Men, and Winn darts towards her, her heart kind of catches in her throat. 

"Be my partner?" He offers, wide eyes and an innocent half smile. 

And how can Kara have the heart to turn him away? 

So he sits down besides her, pulls out his paper, and then disregards it completely. "So about last night-"

Kara stiffens. "I don't know what you're talking about," She forces out. 

"Kara- come on. I mean- come on. I won't tell anybody. Really. But, what, are you like... a superhero? Do you save people like that all the time? Are you invincible? Just like Superman? Is that why you left your last school? You're an undercover vigilante woman of the night who fights bad guys and saves people, but someone saw you, so you had to move here?" He starts talking too fast, and Kara panics slightly.

"It.. wasn't me," Kara tries again weakly. She glances up at doubtful eyes. "Okay!" She huffs. "You can't say a word! Not a _word_! I can fling you into space, you know," Kara hisses threateningly, but she doesn't mean it, and she gets the notion he knows it. 

"Promise. Honest to God." He holds up his hands. 

"That was a one-time thing. A one-time thing! So you can't tell anyone! Do you know how much trouble I'd be in if anyone knew? I saved your life, you can't tell anyone about any of that," she tells him. 

"I know, I know. So.. are you, like.. _an alien_?" He lowers his voice even more. Kara sighs, then nods. 

"Holy shit, the new kid is an alien," Winn breathes. 

"Shut _up_ ," Kara hisses. "Please."

"Sorry, sorry!" Winn mutters. "So, you have all these powers and stuff, just like Superman, but you don't use any of 'em? Not to save anyone, or anything?" He asks curiously. 

Kara feels her face flush. "I'm not supposed to get caught, I can't just go around saving people! If anyone found out, and freaked out, and told people.." Kara tries to defend herself, though she is not being accused of anything, in reality. 

"Superman doesn't get caught," Winn points out innocently. 

"I-" Kara sputters helplessly, as if this is new knowledge, as if this isn’t anything that’s been running around in her head since she _got_ here, like she doesn’t know this already. 

Oh, but, saved by the bell- or, saved by the English teacher, more like. 

"Talking about the book, I hope?" Patronizing, but she walks away fast enough. The teenagers go silent, hoping she heard very little.

"Listen, meet me on the roof of the school, I wanna hear more about this," Winn says, pulling out his copy of the book, then switching subjects quickly enough. Kara takes this as some kind of promise. She’s not crazy on this new boy’s stream of questions she can barely answer for herself, but some added company won’t kill her, either. 

 

"Spirit Week, Danvers," Maggie chimes as her and Alex walk side by side in the hallways, passing people with faces painted sky blue and dark green, the official school colors. "Terrible and corny with lots of obnoxious yelling, but the football game is an event not to be missed. You goin'?" She asks, glancing up at the taller girl. 

"Ah, I don't know, I-" Alex starts, but she's quickly cut off.

"That was a rhetorical question, I was asking to be polite. You're going, and you're going with me," Maggie tells her. 

"What even happens at your football games?" Alex asks with a raise of her eyebrows. 

"Everybody threatens the freshmen and then gets drunk. Lots of sex. Terrible, loud sex, occupying every bathroom stall. Drugs. A lot of drugs. And socializing. But also football. People yelling. Hot chocolate that burns your mouth. You know," Maggie shrugs. 

"That sounds awful," Alex points out. 

"Just trust me," Maggie reassures her. 

And so, Alex does. 

 

Lena's not a babysitter, okay? She's not going to pick up after some pretty blonde freshman every day, like when she comes in late to class, or doesn't know where to go, or times like now, when she's cradling her head in her hands, consciousness out of the question, drooling onto her paper, ignoring the teacher's question. She's not some kind of babysitter!

Except.. her mind flashes back to Kara comforting her after she basically set her hand on fire, and walking with her, spending the night at her house.. Kara's sort of her friend. Right? Lena sighs, nudging the girl next to her with her elbow. "Fallopian tube," she murmurs as Kara blinks her eyes open, shoving her glasses further up her face. 

"Fallopian tube?" Kara murmurs.

"Fallopian tube! That's right, Miss Danvers," the health teacher affirms with an easy grin. Kara rubs at her eyes helplessly. 

"Oh- oh, okay," she mumbles, blinking. 

"Late night, hmm?" Lena glances at Kara out of the corner of her eyes. 

"Something like that, yeah," Kara shrugs. The afternoon is weighing in on her, warm air full of fuzzy light surrounding her heavy eyes. After she'd gotten home, she didn't fall asleep for a couple more hours. Kara would say if she'd managed over three hours, that was luck. She clears her throat, trying to straighten up and stay relatively awake. 

"Wild party?" Lena quirks an eyebrow. 

Kara scoffs. "Hardly. Also, it's Tuesday."

"Right, right. Preppy freshman girl like you, partying on a Monday night? How ridiculous of me," Lena laughs. "And anyways, Friday's the party night. Plenty of house parties going on after the game. I've never been one for sports, but the parties are always interesting. Like stepping into a teenage zoo," Lena muses with a laugh. "Are you going to one?" She turns to Kara.

"I don't know anyone," Kara squeaks slightly. 

"You know me. Come with me," Lena hears herself say. Kara adjusts her glasses once more, a little surprised. "It's an experience," Lena shrugs. "You shouldn't miss it."

Kara finds herself agreeing to let Lena Luthor take her to a party. 

 

An hour later, she finds herself on the _roof of her school_. New experiences, huh?

Winn's been up there for God knows how long, with his backpack, some books, and a telescope Kara assumes he's been keeping there. She doesn’t know why he’s just allowed to stay up here, and frankly, she thinks some things are better kept in the dark, anyways. 

"Kara! Hi! You came. So, okay, can I ask you some questions? This is really cool," He says excitedly. 

"Uhm," she mutters, and then he begins. 

"Are you from the same place as Superman?" Winn asks.

"Uh... Krypton. Yeah," Kara admits with hesitation. What can he really do with this information, though, anyways?

"Are you related?" He presses with bright eyes.

Kara inhales. "He's, uh, yeah, he's my cousin."

"Wasn't he just a baby when he came here, though? And then his planet got destroyed. But, he's an adult, and you're just a kid," Winn points out. 

"I- it's really a long story. I was born first- like, thirteen years first- but, uh, there were some complications with my- my pod, and now he's an adult and I'm not," Kara explains, pulling on her sleeve. 

"So, you can do everything he can do?"

"Yeah," Kara says, looking towards the sky. 

"Then why don't you go off and be a hero, like him? You totally could! And, hey, I could help you. I'm great with computers and stuff, all heroes need tech guys, I could help you out," Winn grins. 

"I- I kind of have to go, Winn, my sister's going to wonder where I am," Kara admits. "But you can text me, though?" She offers, and Winn smiles. 

 

"Kara? _Kara_." Alex says, and Kara snaps to attention, picking at the fabric on her backpack strap as the two walk side by side. 

"Huh?"

"You're being sort of weird, Kara. What's up?" Alex looks at the younger girl. 

"Nothing," Kara mumbles absentmindedly. 

"Liar. Spill," Alex nudges her. 

"Uh- someone found out," Kara flinches. _It's like ripping a band-aid off_.

"What?!" Alex stops dead in her tracks.

"It wasn't my fault! He was gonna, like, die, and what could I do?!" Kara defends. 

"When was this?" Alex's voice loses any sense of serenity. 

"Last night. Well, this morning. Like, two am?" Kara clears her throat. "There was this rock- but it's okay! He's in one of my classes! He's nice!" Kara says quickly.

"What were you doing out at two in the morning, Kara?" Alex sighs. 

"I couldn't sleep," Kara explains quietly. 

"Oh, Kara," Alex rubs at her temples. 

"Really, it's fine. He promised he wouldn't say anything to anyone. I think he's just scared enough of me to keep his mouth shut, even though I didn't really want him to be scared. But, I think it's fine. Really. It's not a big deal," Kara assures her. 

"One thing goes wrong, Kara," Alex shakes her head. "Please. _Please_ be careful. You're my little sister, you need to be safe," Alex tells her. 

"I know. I know, it was only once. I'll be careful."

"Don't go out at two in the morning anymore," Alex tells her. 

"I couldn't sleep," Kara repeats. 

"Are you having nightmares again?" Alex looks over at Kara, concern lacing through her features. 

"No, no," Kara swallows. 

"You'd tell me, though?" Alex asks. 

"Yeah. Yeah, I'd tell you."

And that's almost the end of it. 

"Except- well, Alex, I've been thinking," Kara bites her lip, looks up. (Oh, and it was almost the end of it.)

Alex raises an eyebrow, looks over absentmindedly. "Do tell."

"Well, is it really necessary that I _never_ use my powers? I mean- don't give me that look! I mean- I've been thinking about it, okay? A lot, actually! For a long time. Especially this morning, alright? And then Winn got me thinking about my cousin earlier, and everything else, and I- Alex, I just think, I can do all of this stuff, I could do so much, so I just, I don't see why- I mean, I could help people," Kara stammers her way through her proclamation, warding off near interruptions from her older sisters, shrinking under a hard stare. 

"Help people in the expense of your own safety,” Alex shakes her head. “Kara, you know that can't happen- you slip up once, someone finds out, like I told you, like I said, someone finds out, and it's not like you could possibly keep that up, you-"

"My cousin does!" Kara defends, wounded tone to her voice. A cold rush washes over her, a flimsy defeat. "My cousin does."

"Your cousin isn't a freshman in high school."

"Alex, I-" Kara tries. 

"Kara," Alex's voice is apologetic but firm, and it stings to the ears as much as it does from the throat, double-edged sword of hurt blue eyes and the silent turn of a head. 

Silence settles between the sisters that feels weary and uneven. "Kara, you know.. I mean-"

"Forget I said anything. It's okay," Kara mumbles tiredly. "Just forget I said anything."

 

Kara said forget it, and she probably would at least _try_ to, except she still can't sleep- good thing she's not human, or else that'd probably be super unhealthy (it might be now, too, but that's besides the point)- and she has her phone in her hands and a yearning for something beyond her, so nobody can really blame her for sitting on her roofs with fidgeting hands, requesting the presence of someone who should know what she means. (He doesn't- not really- but nothing's ever enough, anyways, right?)

Clark lands on her roof in an easy glide. "I hope you weren't busy or anything. If you were busy, you shouldn't have come," Kara mutters, looking to the ground and curling her legs closer to her body. Her cousin sits down next to her.

"Nah. Slow night. Hi, little cousin," he says warmly, and it does a little to ease Kara's heart. 

"I was born first," she mumbles, but it's wavering and halfhearted. 

"That you were. What's troubling you, Kara?" 

Kara pauses and cranes her neck back to the sky, letting cold night air pass over her. Everything feels so incredibly foreign, once again. She takes a deep breath. "What made you decide to become Superman?" Cracking clarity in the middle of more _silence_. (Perhaps it’s just a family thing.)

"I knew I could help people. I wanted to help people. It just made sense to me," Clark tells her. It's not exactly a heroic speech, but it's entirely sincere, which is almost better. 

"I can do everything you can do. I want to help people. I have powers, except every time I want to help someone, everybody freaks out, and then we move and everybody thinks I'm a murderer and scrawny boys on bikes are scared of me and my sister hates me. I could be a hero, too. I could help people, too! But instead, everybody tells me to keep my head low when I could be _doing_ something," Kara rambles into the dark blue haze.

"They just want you to be safe, Kara," Clark puts a hand on her shoulder and she swallows. 

"So I have to be safe, but you don't?" Kara turns. She sounds petulant and bitter, so she figures she's fitting in as a typical American teenager, either way. But there's truth to what she said. 

"I am safe. I keep my identities separate. Mild-mannered Clark Kent is a reporter," He says calmly. 

"I could have a separate identity!" Kara huffs, crossing her arms. 

"You're just a kid," He tells her. "You have school. You don't have time to play the hero, just because you can. I know you want to help people, Kara, I get it, but just wait until you're a little older, when you have more time. You won't be sloppy, you can keep yourself safe. Just be a kid, first, Kara," He says, standing up. 

Kara does not move. "That's easy for you to say," She spits, biting down on her lip, closing her eyes. 

"What?" Clark turns to look down at her with eyes that mirror her own- but, she's looking away. He wishes she wasn't looking away.

"Nothing," Kara mumbles tiredly. "Nothing."

"Get some sleep, Kara." He hugs her and she watches him fade away, blue and red on darker blue, and when there's no trace left of Superman left, she crawls back into her room and tries to sleep; she really tries.

 

"You know, I'm really starting to appreciate sleep more and more these days," Kara mumbles into her hands. 

"Yeah, yeah, head up, blondie," Lena laughs affectionately, pushing Kara's head up with one finger as the Chemistry teacher walks by for attendance. "Restless nights, hm?"

"Yeah, that's about it," Kara shrugs. "I can't wait until the weekend," she moans. 

"Rough week for Miss Danvers," Lena hums. "You've got a terrible party full of teenage alcoholism to look forward to?" She offers. 

"Oh, I'm so glad you've given me a true reason to go on," Kara giggles behind her glasses. 

"Well, I'll be your escort, after all, so that must count for something?" Lena smirks. 

"Makes all the difference in the world," Kara mumbles, stretching out her back and then grabbing her pencil to write her name on the worksheet set in front of her at the beginning of class. 

"Are you going to the dance?" Lena asks with a raised eyebrow.

"There's a dance?" Kara asks. "I didn't even know there was a dance. I've never even been to a dance," she shrugs. 

" _Never_? Really? You should go, it's another one of those experiences you shouldn't miss," Lena tells her.

"But I don't-" Kara begins. 

"You don't know anyone, I know, I know. I'll go with you, Kara. These helpless freshmen nowadays," Lena shakes her head, but her lilting voice betrays her, leaving it all in jest. Kara smiles lightly. 

So maybe things are looking up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tell me what you wanna see in the upcoming chapters, what you liked in this chapter, something that makes me wanna keep writing this lmao  
> rq fics at protectkara.tumblr.com/ask


	4. The Great Yet Lonely Modern Art

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Friday is here- the dance, the football game, and a handful of parties. Kara is exhausted, but she can still try. Meanwhile, Alex finds herself becoming a real member of the school, starting with a simple display of petty theft and underaged alcoholism. Spin the bottle is always interesting, or at least Alex thinks so- Kara, however, just thinks dancing is a lot harder than it looks, even with a teacher like Lena. Really, though, what's the difference between feeling big, and feeling small?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is a lil choppy i know but i wanted there to be very rapid switching between povs and everything sooo... yeah hope u enjoy

It didn't rain on Krypton. 

It was sterile and still and unforgiving under a glaring red sun, and it did not rain, not where things were so simple and clear cut and steady. Earth is messy. 

And on Earth, it is raining. 

Raining hard in the dark of the night, clamoring and loud and empty enough so that the night could just as easily swallow Kara and no one might ever notice. Black holes. 

Blurred edges of the great yet lonely everything, cold air and flooding streets, all sliding down around Kara as she sits on the edge of a picnic table in a park she’s never been to before.

Pouring holy floods beat down upon Kara, and if she didn't know better she wouldn't pin such a lifelessness upon them; they feel purposeful, they feel angry and tragically alive. But that's sort of stupid. She knows that.

She just wishes it wasn't so loud- louder and louder, the chaotic noise goes on a rampant incline. It increases, harder and harder, until you'd think it couldn't go much further, think it'd calm back down again, but it doesn't. Golf ball sized chunks of ice join easily and it sounds _frightening_ , almost. 

The sky illuminates to purple and Kara flinches as the sky scars in a searing luminescence, then fades back down again. But next is worse. 

Next comes thunder, rolling and long winded and ever so close, and it sounds like the world is splitting in two, like the sky is cracking apart in the crease the lightning left, such fire in the sky, and oh, is it ever so apocalyptic, this second world, second everything being destroyed in front of Kara at God knows when in the morning. 

The storm feels like pain and repentance, like listlessness and guilt and needing to sleep. Like a shaking in Kara's core, a coldness in her lungs, and her eyelids are heavy and long for sleep that is always fitful and plagued by personal storms that end in a cold sweat and trying to keep quiet for the sake of the people who take her in so selflessly, then slipping out a window and ending up in somewhere so utterly foreign. 

And it probably doesn’t mean that much, but even so, Kara feels petrified where she stands.

But, oh, better things must be coming- things that are so much easier said than done, things that sometimes leave a burning in Kara's throat late at night, the light things, the happy things, the 'just being a kid' things when she could be doing more. 

She shakes her head and it aches. Better things, better things are coming. Weekends and parties and better things than being alone so early in the morning. But Kara needs some sleep, all she really needs is some sleep. And then it'll be all right. 

 

"I'm not late," Kara waves her arm feebly as she steps into first period on the very last second of 7:59. Her hair is vaguely damp, which will hopefully appear to be from an early morning shower, and not an early morning traipse into the rain. What the hell does the word traipse mean, anyways? Whatever, Kara can save questions like that for English class. 

Lena greets Kara with a smirk from her seat as Kara sets her things down, then sits beside her. "Have you considering leaving for school a few minutes earlier?" Lena suggests. 

"Oh, hush," Kara laughs slightly as their teacher begins passing out busywork. 

"If you're late tonight I'll be utterly offended," Lena teases. 

"I won't be, I promise," Kara rests her head on her hands. "Oh, is it, like, formal? Like, is there a dress code? For the dance?" Kara mumbles.

Lena pauses, then smiles deviously. "Yes, there absolutely is." (This is a lie. Lena is a dirty liar. A dirty liar with absolutely no remorse.)

Hey, just because they're friends now doesn't mean Lena can't have _any_ fun. 

 

"Danvers." More of a statement than a greeting, but it comes with warm eyes and a smile, so Alex will absolutely take it. 

"Hey." 

"Ready for initiation tonight?" Maggie asks with a tilt of her head. 

"Initiation?" Alex raises her eyebrows. 

"You're not truly part of the school 'till you get trashy drunk at a football game that we're losing," Maggie shrugs. Alex sits down beside her, settling into her desk. 

"The trashy drunk part, that I can do, but what if we don't lose?" Alex asks.

"Oh, we always lose," Maggie says firmly.

"Every time," says a boy behind them. 

"It's a school tradition. We suck. I mean, we're just awful. It's ridiculous. We always lose. So you take care of the drunk part, and the football players will do the rest for you," Maggie promises. 

"So alcoholism is required to be part of this school?" Alex quirks an eyebrow. "What about, like, the Mormons? The Amish?"

"Oh my God, Danvers, are you drunk right _now_? Oh my God. 'The Amish.' Coming to English class drunk. That won't get you extra credit, Alex," Maggie starts to laugh. 

"Knowing our teacher, I feel like it absolutely would," Alex says. "Stop making fun of the Amish, though, that's rude," Alex scolds. 

"Dude. First of all, there are definitely no Amish kids who go here. I feel like that just makes you sort of stupid. Second, I'm 82% sure Amish people drink. That's religious, right? Religious people love to get wasted, it's why there's the whole Jesus-wine thing, and, anyways, don't kids our age do to the thing? Like in reality TV? Where they live like 'the English?' So if Amish kids were in our grade, they'd be drunk. Always, probably," Maggie says thoughtfully.

"Drunk always. That should be your school motto," Alex offers. 

"Or your English class motto." 

"Oh, shut up."

"Hey, you're the new kid!" Maggie announces as if it's some kind of revelation, and Alex laughs lightly. 

"Uh, yeah, did you forget? Maybe I'm not the drunk one, after all."

"You're the new kid, and that means you have to come with me for the supply run for Under The Bleachers activities," Maggie explains. "It's your responsibility. Also part of initiation."

"Supply run?"

"Yeah, come with me," Maggie grabs her wrist without further explanation, and then calls out to the English teacher, "we're going to Target!"

"Find your spirit there, my dears," the English teacher croons, flitting around her incense. 

"This... this is a weird school," Alex shakes her head. 

Maggie's car is very small and looks like it could fall apart at any moment, but it smells like cinnamon and leather, so Alex can't really complain too much. She slips into the passenger seat and Maggie sits next to her, turning on the radio, even though the speakers are staticy and hard to hear. 

"So, why are we going to Target during English class?"

"It's my unofficial job to provide the alcohol for football games to everyone who hangs under the bleachers. It's a team job, though, so I always take the new kid," Maggie explains. 

"What, do you have a fake ID or something?" Alex asks.

"Nah, mostly it's just petty theft," Maggie shrugs.

"That is... _so_ many kinds of illegal," Alex shakes her head. 

"It's okay, I'm planning on being a cop when I'm older to make up for it, so it's pretty much even," Maggie shrugs. "You should consider being a cop, too, now that you're about to become my accomplice. Plus, you have the body for it," She points out. 

Alex clears her throat, bites her lip. "Ha. You know, I don't really think that's how the law works." She tries to ignore the blush creeping onto her face as they pull into the parking lot of the Target. 

 

"Hey, Kara," Alex says as her sister meets her outside the side door of the school for the walk home. "Don't steal things from Target when you're a junior, okay?"

"I... what?" Kara blinks at Alex vacantly.

"Long story. Heed my advice. Technically, we didn't get caught, but I wouldn't really advise it," Alex shrugs as the girls begin walking home. 

"Uh. Okay. Hey, Alex, can I borrow one of your dresses? I'm going to the dance, and I guess it's supposed to be formal," Kara shoves her glasses up her nose. 

"Sure. You're going to the dance?" Alex raises an eyebrow. 

"Uh-huh. With Lena. She said I shouldn't miss it," Kara explains. 

"With Lena, huh? So no shovel talk necessary, then, I guess?" Alex laughs.

"Guess not," Kara mumbles.

"..Hey, Kara, are you okay?" Alex raises an eyebrow, slows her pace a little. 

"What? Why?" Kara asks. 

"You just seem... I don't know. Weird," Alex shrugs. 

"That's mean," Kara says with a half smile. 

"Seriously."

"I'll be fine, Alex," Kara shakes her head. "I've just got a lot on my mind." At least that's truthful. 

 

Under a twilight sky, Maggie gives three sharp knocks to door of Alex's house. 

Without more than a few seconds, the door is opened by a blonde woman. "Hi, sweetie. Which one are you here for?"

"Uh, Alex Danvers?" Maggie says. 

"Come on in, she'll be down with her sister in just a minute. You're just in time for dinner."

"Great," Maggie says with an easy smile, despite the fact that she really wasn't expecting to be part of a family dinner- she was really just here to pick up Alex. 

Alex's house is warm and homey, full of a soft orange glow. Alex comes down the steps as Maggie is being shown to the dining table. "Hey, mom, I- Maggie. Hi," Alex is slightly taken aback. 

"Hey, Danvers, your mom invited me to stay for dinner," Maggie gives her a smirk as Eliza goes into the kitchen to finish up. 

"Oh, really, she did?" Alex laughs, taking a seat next to Maggie. 

"Of course I did, she's your friend," Eliza says very matter-of-factly. "Where's your sister, Alex?"

"She said she'll be down in a few minutes," Alex shrugs. 

Eliza puts the food out and then sits down at the other end of the table.

It's nice, dinner with Alex's mom. Their house is homey and the food is amazing. Her mom is nice and talkative.

"So, are you girls going to the football game?" Eliza asks. 

"Yeah, they're always great, so I insisted that Alex here come with me," Maggie says. 

"Oh, well that was nice of you, dear," Eliza smiles. "It's so nice to see Alex make some friends, when she was a little girl, she didn't have many friends, s-"

"Thanksfordinnermomwereallyneedtogobye," by the time Alex has finished her sentence, she's already dragged Maggie out of the house to the car by the sleeve of her shirt. 

"Aw, but I just started eating," Maggie pouts, sliding into the driver's seat. 

"You can eat when we get there," Alex says gruffly. 

"Poor, young, friendless Alex," Maggie sighs mockingly. 

Alex throws a quarter at her. 

"Okay, okay, I'm done!" Maggie laughs. "I'm finished."

"Just drive, Sawyer."

 

Taking the day of the week into consideration, the weight on Kara's chest should be significantly lighter. Whatever; she figures things will be pretty good when Lena comes to get her. She knows that Alex has already left with her friend, she heard the car, but that's sort of weird, since the game isn't until after the dance, and even the dance isn't starting until fifteen minutes from now. 

Kara looks at herself in her mirror, and she feels small, standing there in her sister's dress in her room, which growing a pale blue. 

A knock at the door tells Kara her ride is waiting, so she makes her way down the stairs to see Eliza greeting Lena. "Hey! You're here," Kara says, approaching Lena. 

"Yeah," Lena smiles. 

"You girls have fun, now," Eliza says as Kara and Lena exit the house and wave. 

"You look," Lena looks Kara up and down, "Uh. Wow."

"Thanks. I think," Kara clears her throat as the girls start walking towards the school. Not the most glamorous way to show up to a dance, but it works. 

 

"I didn't even know this place existed," Alex shrugs, leaning back in her booth and looking out to the sky. The sun hasn't totally fallen yet, but in the east, beginnings of shining stars are visible. 

"Best food in our town. Which, you know, is saying _very_ little. Still, though. A good place to kill time for an hour before the game," Maggie points out. 

Alex almost asks Maggie why she's hanging out with her, when Maggie has a whole group of very loud friends probably readily available somewhere else. Instead, she just takes a sip of her shake, letting fluorescent light wash over her. 

"Your mom seems nice," Maggie says, and it's not without a slight smirk, but it's still fairly sincere. 

"Yeah, she's pretty nice," Alex shrugs.

"Wait until she finds out her kid stole from a Target," Maggie laughs, and her dimples show brilliantly. 

"You're pretty when you smile," Alex mumbles. Immediately after, she looks away. But still, she can see, Maggie smiles. 

 

Lena is not a bad person, and she thinks this is quite proven by the fact that, despite having messed with Kara about the less-than-classy school event being formal, she did not make Kara brave the otherness of being out of place entirely alone. Both girls are entering the gym wearing dresses that are far too fancy for the occasion. 

"You said it was formal!" Kara swats at Lena. 

"Ah, well," Lena laughs easily in the humid gym air. Some kind of soft song is playing at a low quality in the background, and the lights are low and reddish, casting shadows across the room. Lena takes Kara's hand and twirls her easily. "Welcome to a high school dance. It's terrible, and we should definitely leave within twenty minutes or less."

"Awh, but I wanna dance," Kara gives Lena her widest, most pleading eyes and an innocent smile. 

"I don't really know how to dance," Lena says. (This is a lie; what rich girl doesn't know how to ballroom dance?)

"Aww," Kara moans with a frown that is nearly unbearable. It takes literally three seconds of this for Lena to break completely. 

"God, _fine_ ," Lena sighs. Kara claps. 

"Show me how?"

"Okay," Lena says. "Put your hands like this- yeah, right there. Keep them there, unless I go to spin you or something like that. And I'll put my hands here. Okay? And now we kind of- we kind of go like this, like, we go in this shape, okay? Like sort of a square. Sort of go to the music, like, sway. Keep the beat, right. Good. And now- now I'll spin you, okay?"

Lena twirls Kara, and her dress twirls with her, leaving her giggling when she steadies. 

"Okay. Good. Fall back in with the beat, now, right- okay. Good. You're doing really good, Kara," Lena laughs brightly. For a few moments, it is easy, and it is only them. 

 

The football game is loud and full of bright, artificial light that hurts Alex's eyes. Maggie leads her under the bleachers, where there's a group of stoner-type looking teenagers hanging out and laughing and yelling like it's some kind of exclusive party. "Everybody, me and Danvers are here with the beer," Maggie waves an arm in the air. 

Kids cheer all around as they drag the cooler of alcohol over. It takes less than 37 seconds for someone to yell 'chug' to no one in particular. 

"Interesting enough, huh?" Maggie smiles. 

"Guess so," Alex says with a laugh. 

Someone's set up a radio, and dizzy summer music is humming around them. Alex takes a seat, and Maggie follows suit, sipping on a beer. They sit quietly, cheers overhead and fuzzy music filling up all the blank spaces, but both girls hands are supporting them, and just slightly, they're touching. Alex tries not to wonder if this is on purpose. 

It takes maybe another thirty minutes for someone to yell, "spin the bottle!" Everybody, by now, is slightly lost to the world, though no one's quite wasted yet, either. Without a second thought, Maggie is entering into the circle of kids, tight grip on Alex's wrist, and the game commences. A boy next to Maggie spins first, and Alex pays very little attention. 

Next, though, it's Maggie's turn. She spins. It lands on a boy in a black hoodie. Alex takes a sip of beer. Maggie makes a face. "I really need more friends who are chicks," she shakes her head, steps forward, and lets the boy kiss her. He grins. She doesn't. (Neither does Alex. She just feels a vague twist in her stomach.)

 

Under the light of the moon, feeling in somewhat high spirits, if a little hollow inside, Kara walks side by side with Lena, on their way to whichever party Lena deems best. 

"You dance really well," Kara says quietly. 

"Got lessons when I was little," Lena shrugs. Kara nods. "Hey, we're here," Lena points to a house down the block with lights and loud music all spilling out the windows. 

"I can smell the alcohol from here," Kara mutters. 

"No kidding," Lena says as they make their way to the house. It's all open doors, so the two walk in easily. "Do you want a drink, though?" She casts her eye over at the younger girl. Kara shakes her head politely. "Okay, I'll be right back, then," Lena tells her. Kara puts her back against the wall as she is left alone within the loud noise. She plants her feet firmly in the carpeting, as if not to be swallowed whole. Things like this, they always feel very isolating, at least if you're by yourself. 

Luckily, though, Lena returns quickly, red cup in hand. "This... this is a party?" Kara asks. 

"Pretty much. It's more fun if you're drunk," Lena shrugs. "Or into this sort of thing."

"It's interesting," Kara says, sitting down on a wide leather couch. She thinks she sinks down about a foot when she sits down. Lena sits down beside her, taking a sip from her cup. 

"What's in there?" Kara quirks an eyebrow. 

"I don't know, but whatever it is, it's strong, and sort of gross," Lena squints down at the contents of the cup, then shrugs and takes another long sip. 

"It's like... being inside a piece of modern art, or something," Kara mumbles, looking around at all of the sharp edges and faded colors that go fuzzy if she doesn't focus hard enough. It's smokey and pale, the whole room, and messy music is clashing with the quiet sound of the night and the fireflies hovering near the grass despite it being the wrong season entirely for that. 

"Modern art kind of sucks," Lena mumbles, finishing off her cup of Something Awful. 

"Not always," Kara shrugs, and wonders if she's telling the truth. 

"I'm getting another drink, want one?" Lena offers. Kara politely declines once more and watches Lena retreat into the next room, letting everything go fuzzy and red and faraway for a moment. 

 

Thirty spins. It takes thirty spins of the beer bottle in the middle of the circle to place Maggie and Alex together. When it does, Maggie rubs her hands together. "Alright, finally something I can get behind," she laughs, standing up. Alex follows suit with heat flooding her body. Her limbs betray her slightly, she feels wavering, she feels unsteady. 

Maggie smiles and tugs at Alex's jacket, compromising for the awfully noticeable height difference. 

When the two girls kiss, a lot of things happen for Alex- a lot of things that Alex _will not_ disclose, under any circumstances, in fact, because she's always hated young adult books and their depictions of kissing, so she's definitely _not_ going to say that, when they kiss, it's sparkly and warm and bright, and she especially won't think about how fucking _soft_ Maggie's lips are, because that's just fucking ridiculous, and she's not even going to acknowledge Maggie's hands on her hips in the first place, to be quite frank. 

When Maggie pulls away, Alex's body screams in petulant reluctance, but her face stays stone. Boys are wolf whistling- Alex hardly notices. Maggie's wearing a smile on her lips. "Well, guys, this was fun," She says once someone else grabs the bottle, "but I think me and my ride along over here are gonna jet before the guards come and kick us all out. Seeya."

Alex follows out into the open night air wordlessly. The make it to Maggie's car, but Maggie doesn't even pull her keys out of her pocket. Instead, she says, "that was fun. Up for a round two, Danvers?"

And how can a drunk teenager decline an offer like that, in a great and wide world lacking consequence?

 

Within two hours, Lena is kind of entirely wasted, and it's pretty funny, besides the fact that it kind of makes Kara feel like she's on a different level of mind, which is an awfully lonely place to be. And, don't get her wrong, this is all perfectly entertaining- it's just... weird. 

"Kara," Lena slurs, "you're pretty." She runs a clumsy hand through Kara's blond curls. 

Kara laughs. "Thanks, Lena."

"You look like... a Disney princess," Lena mumbles, shaking her head. "I mean, everyone thought you were gonna be scary.... but you're just a ninth grade princess! Ha."

"I can be scary," Kara mumbles as Lena rests her head in Kara's lap. Kara threads her fingers through Lena's hair.

"I don't _believe_ you," Lena giggles. 

"Yeah, well, you're drunk," Kara says, a quick half-smile passing her lips. 

"Why aren't _you_ drunk?" Lena challenges. "Y'look like you could use it."

Kara laughs huskily. "Hey, did your hand ever get better? The burnt one?" Kara looks down at the older girl, who's occupied gazing at the ceiling fan currently. 

"Lil' bit," Lena sighs. "Hey, it's, like, one in the morning," Lena laughs as if this is particularly funny- it's not. 

"I should be home now," Kara sinks down further into the couch. 

"Me. Too." Lena laughs. "But! I think I'm gonna crash here instead."

"Maybe I will, too," Kara considers. 

"Don't. Your mom- she's sooo nice, Kara. Go and be _home_. Don't _worry_ her," Lena orders with intimidating emerald eyes and a soft giggle. 

"You could come with me, you know," Kara offers. 

"Nah. Who knows what'd we'd do, drunk and alone together?" Lena winks seductively. 

"Um." Kara blinks. 

"Go home, Kara," Lena orders sternly. "Now! Run. Unless you're going to trip."

"Uh. Okay," Kara mutters tiredly, shaking her head. Lena gets off of her, and Kara leaves, hearing the pounding music fade into dull thumping as she heads towards home. 

 

When Alex makes it home, it's two in the morning. Her head is thick and dizzy but her face is flushed. Maggie waves as she turns the corner (on foot- she may be a thief, but she's no drunk driver) of Alex's block, heading for home. 

The sky feels wonderfully high above her, and the world feels light and welcoming. It is the most ideal version of reality, this moment right now, and so despite the cold air, Alex takes a moment to crane her head back and look at the sky, let it wash over her.

Most miraculous of all, tonight, though? Her school’s team won. Maggie was thrilled. (“We won! We never win! It’s a fucking miracle, Danvers! You know what? I think you might just be good luck, Alex.”)

Alex giggles, leaning against the back of her door for a second. 

Then, she lets herself in, thanking God himself that Eliza is the worlds _most_ heavy sleeper. 

Alex stumbles up the stairs in a drunken stupor, lazy smiles on her face. She takes a left and makes her way into the room, falling onto her bed, clothes on and all. Except there's a body next to her, one that's very much alive. Thankfully. Probably for the best.

"Kara?" Alex whispers. 

"Uh, yeah?"

"Is this, uh.. is this my room, or yours?" Alex asks. 

"I'm pretty sure it's mine, Alex," Kara mumbles. 

"Oh. Sorry. Could I stay, tonight, though?" She asks. Or maybe it's more like an offer. 

"..Yeah, please stay," Kara says, and Alex can feel her nod. 

"When did you get home?" 

"Like an hour ago?" Kara says. 

"And you're still awake?"

"Yeah." 

"Well, did you have a good time?" Alex mumbles tiredly. 

"I think. Kinda. You?"

"The best," Alex laughs. 

"I'm glad," Kara says lightly. 

"Yeah. Go to sleep now, little sister," Alex slurs, wrapping a protective arm around Kara. 

Kara wholeheartedly appreciates this. At least she’s not alone so early in the morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YO LEAVE A REVIEW tell me what you liked, how you felt, what you want to see in the upcoming chapters, storylines you like, etc. send me a prompt/message at protectkara.tumblr.com/ask

**Author's Note:**

> LEAVE A COMMENT TO I HAVE THE WILL TO GO ON jk but go for it also!!! send me tumblr prompts and shit at protectkara.tumblr.com/ask


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